Mark Cuban's Millions in Fines

Even Mark Cuban's bad behavior benefits a good cause. But although Cuban matches his hefty NBA penalties with donations to charities, the over $1.7 million he has paid in the fines themselves over the years could have been better spent elsewhere.

Sure, $1.7 million is a drop in the pail to a billionaire - especially a billionaire who seems to get a rush from throwing money at problems - but still. It's the same amount as Obama's taxable income for 2010, and he's rich.

Or he could have bought 17 gilded INAX bathtubs, made with tiles of 24-karat white gold. One for every Mavericks player, with a couple leftover for a referee or two.

Here's a rough breakdown of Cuban's penalties:

By 2006, Cuban had racked up $1,665,000 in fines, according to ABCNews. The total came from multiple incidents involving several acts of misconduct, with fine amounts ranging from $5,000 to $500,000.

In 2009, Cuban paid a $25,000 fine for walking on to the court to shout at Nuggets guard J.R. Smith, and he kept his sense of humor about it:

In the spirit of the joy of my getting fined and your not getting the tech, have the Nuggets PR folks contact the Mavs PR folks and I will donate 25k to the charity of your choice, Cuban wrote in a blog post addressed to JR.

Here is a more detailed breakdown of Cuban's fines, from an unknown but seemingly legitimate source. Note that said source mentions the list may be incomplete as the NBA may not always publicly disclose the penalties.

In an attempt to prevent the person from committing suicide, Avleen K. Mokha in her Facebook post wrote, "Don't go ahead with this tonight. There's more in life to look forward to beyond tonight. Please be there to see it."